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British shipping companies (J,K)

J.I. Jacobs & Co., Ltd.
Kristian Jebsen - Jebsens (U.K.) Ltd.
Richard W. Jones & Co
Kaye, Son & Co.
John Kelly
King Line
J.P. Knight Ltd.
Kyle Shipping Co., Ltd.

See also:

J.I. Jacobs & Co., Ltd.

image by Jarig Bakker

J.I. Jacobs & Co., Ltd., London; blue flag, white Magen David, white "J".
Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies [Wedge 1926]
Jarig Bakker, 20 February 2005

Kristian Jebsen - Jebsens (U.K.) Ltd.

image by Jarig Bakker, 30 November 2005

Kristian Jebsen - Jebsens (U.K.) Ltd., London - horizontal blue-white-blue flag; in center blue horizontal zigzag-line. (Bergen is mentioned too as base; guess it's the same company as Jebsen in Norway).
Source: Loughran (1995)
Jarig Bakker, 30 November 2005

Richard W. Jones & Co

image by Jarig Bakker, based on the website of the National Maritime Museum.

From the website of the National Maritime Museum, the house flag of Richard W. Jones & Co. Newport, Monmouth. A white, rectangular flag with a red border and the initials 'RWJ & Co.' in red across the centre. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. It has a cotton hoist and is machine sewn."
Jarig Bakker, 25 August 2004

Kaye, Son & Co.

image by James Dignan

Based on Sampson (1957)
James Dignan, 19 October 2003

Description: Blue; white K inside white diamond. In "All about Ships and Shipping" the 'diamond' is square.
Jarig Bakker, 19 October 2003

Phil Nelson, 19 October 2003

John Kelly

image by James Dignan

Based on Sampson (1957)
James Dignan, 12 October 2003

Based in Belfast. Originally started in 1861 to transport coal. Merged in 1993 with Lanes Group Ltd. Currently known as Kelly Fuels.
Phil Nelson, 12 October 2003

King Line

image located by Jan Mertens, 4 January 2006

The King Line existed for quite a long time as recounted by Alan Mallett, author of “Idyll of the Kings – History of the King Line 1889-1979”:

Source: http://worldshipsociety.org/publications/searchdetails.php?RecordNumber=202

“The King Line is well-known as the tramp and bulk-carrier arm of the British and Commonwealth Group, but how many people know that it has a long and interesting history which is closely bound up with the rise and fall of that giant of shipping Lord Kylsant. 'Idyll of the Kings' includes much fascinating historical material on both the King Line and its founder -- the design and day to day management of its ships, the adoption of the diesel engine in the 1920s and the economies this brought, the changes following the resignation and later trial of Kylsant, and the Line's incorporation in the British and Commonwealth Group.”

For 1920s read 1925 (moving away from steam); a further fact is the takeover by Union-Castle in 1949. I do not know exactly how the firm came to its end, if that is the right expression. In any case Owen Phillips, founder of the company, became a shipping and shipbuilding tycoon and was made Lord Kylsant. Under this name he became notorious as he had used fraudulent means to financially bolster his shipping empire.

A quote from the Red Duster site (http://www.red-duster.co.uk/GLEN3.htm):
“by 1929 he was experiencing financial problems. (…) Eventually the group was unable to repay Government loans made available for the construction of ships under the Trade Facilities Act.
In 1930 a Government enquiry recommended that the Kylsant Group should negotiate with its bankers and raise funds to repay the loans but when, by July of the same year, nothing was forthcoming Lord Kylsant was divested of his powers and the group put into the hands of three Trustees. By 1931 the Kylsant empire was bankrupt and the affairs of the group, which included Union Castle Line, White Star Line, Elder, Dempster and both Glen and Shire Lines had to be unravelled, a complicated but not impossible problem. Lord Kylsant was found guilty of making fraudulent statements to attract working capital.”

See also http://www.users.on.net/~snicol/story/index3.html for remarks on Lord Kylsant, relevant for the family arms formed the basis for the house flag. To begin with, see the augmented Phillips arms on the first bookplate. Compare with no. 1410 of the on-line 1912 Lloyds Flags & Funnels, third of first row at www.mysticseaport.org, i.e. ‘King Line, Ltd. (Phillips, Phillips & Co., Ltd.), London’ and the clickable image (ca. 1951) shown by the National Maritime Museum,
Greenwich: “The house flag of King Line Ltd, London. A white swallow-tailed burgee bearing a crest of a grey rampant lion, gorged with a ducal coronet and a chain attached.”

As in Lloyds 1912, the lion seems to have an intermediate colour (or is described as such) whereas the picture on A. Mallett’s monograph is more satisfactory: black (sable) lion, armed and langued gules. (This would have to be checked against a blazon of the arms.) The torse or wreath has only one colour however and there is also the regrettable Goldeneye…
Jan Mertens, 4 January 2006

J.P. Knight Ltd.

image by Jarig Bakker, 20 September 2005

J.P. Knight Ltd., Rochester - blue flag, white "K".
Source: Loughran (1995)
Jarig Bakker, 20 September 2005

Kyle Shipping Co. Ltd.

image by Phil Nelson, 11 April 2000

from Stewart and Styring's Flags, Funnels and Hull Colors 1963